Drafted in 2978 by the Xanthalian diplomatic corps the International Planespace Tactical Security Agreement, commonly abbreviated IPTSA, was conceived as a measure to protect the interests of Xanthal and other parties that had the knowledge to use planespace, a dimensional plane that can allow objects to travel faster than light in unique fashion, by ensuring that the technology remained in as few hands as possible. However, the treaty did not go into effect until Xanthal encountered The Humankind Abh, another nation making use of planespace, which became the first signatory in 2999, followed closely by Xanthal itself. The text of the IPTSA is straightforward and uncompromising: those who agree to its terms are sworn to keep the knowledge and technology that makes planespace travel possible an absolute secret and to unite in crushing anyone, signatory or not, refusing to abide by its terms.

Text

Article 1. Preamble

This document and all its contents shall be known as the International Planespace Tactical Security Agreement, IPTSA or proper translation thereof, hereafter Agreement.

Article 2. Definitions

Section 1.

Any entity, group, individual, nation, state or other sentient being or conglomeration thereof having possession of or access to the ability, information, knowledge or technology to detect, enter, scan or travel through the dimension generally known as planespace, hereafter Planespace, is, for the purposes of this Agreement, an Equipped Party, plural Equipped Parties.

Section 2.

Any entity, group, individual, nation, state or other sentient being or conglomeration thereof not fulfilling any of the criteria listed in Section 1 of this Article 2 is, for the purposes of this Agreement, an Unequipped Party, plural Unequipped Parties.

Section 3.

Transfer of information or an object from one party to another in any form is, for the purposes of this Agreement, Released to that party, verb Releasing. Releasing an item consists only of allowing access to the item in any form to another party. This includes all instances, regardless of any compensation or the absence thereof and regardless of whether actual ownership of the item in question is transferred.

Section 4.

Any Equipped Party that agrees to be legally bound by the provisions of this Agreement through legal and official approval by that Equipped Party or a party of that Equipped Party with the legal authority to approve it on behalf of the Equipped Party is, for the purposes of this Agreement, a Signatory, plural Signatories.

Section 5.

Equipped Parties within the legal jurisdiction of another Equipped Party can not be Signatories if that Equipped Party is a Signatory, but they will be held to the Agreement’s terms.

Article 3. Information nondisclosure agreements

Section 1.

No information on the nature of Planespace, including information on energy patterns and layouts as well as any chart or guide of Planespace, shall be released by an Equipped Party to an Unequipped Party.

Section 2.

No information on the points of transit between Planespace and other dimensions or universes, hereafter Sords, including information on composition and location of Sords, shall be released by an Equipped Party to an Unequipped Party.

Article 4. Equipment confidentiality agreements

Section 1.

No technology necessary for or unique to the construction of equipment that can be used to enter, navigate, and/or travel through Planespace or Sords shall be released by an Equipped Party to an Unequipped Party, nor shall be any equipment or other object containing such a technology, nor shall be any equipment that can be used to enter, navigate, and/or travel through Planespace or Sords in and of itself.

Section 2.

No equipment capable of constructing in any form any technology specified in Section 1 of this Article 4 shall be released by an Equipped Party to an Unequipped Party.

Section 3.

No information on the equipment or technology specified in Section 1 of this Article 4 or in Section 2 of this Article 4 shall be released by an Equipped Party to an Unequipped Party.

Article 5. Security

Section 1.

In the interest of protecting the security of Equipped Parties and controlling the spread of planespace-related information and technologies, all Equipped Parties that are not Signatories shall be considered Security Risks by all Signatories.

Section 2.

Signatories that willfully violate one or more provisions of this Agreement shall have their Signatory status revoked and become Security Risks.

Section 3.

Signatories that, through action or inaction of a party under their jurisdiction, violate one or more provisions of this Agreement shall take independent action to ensure any resulting Security Risks are contained. A Signatory Vote will be held one standard month after the violation(s) to determine if the actions taken by the violating Signatories have adequately addressed those Security Risks. If the vote determines that they have not adequately addressed the Security Risks, the violating Signatories shall have their Signatory status revoked and become Security Risks.

Section 4.

All Security Risks shall be compelled to abide by the terms of this Agreement by any and all necessary means as decided by Signatory Vote.

Section 5.

It is the responsibility of all Signatories to see that Security Risks are contained and eliminated; whether or not they fall under the explicit provisions of this Agreement.

Article 6. Collective decision-making

Section 1.

All Signatories can be compelled to take collective action to contain and eliminate Security Risks by majority approval in a Signatory Vote, in which each Signatory shall have one vote. Each vote shall be assigned to whatever party the appropriate legal authority of the Signatory holding that vote shall dictate.

Section 2.

Any Signatory may call for a Signatory Vote on a proposal, which that Signatory must explicitly state, at any time.

Section 3.

No later than twenty-four hours after a Signatory Vote is called, the Signatory calling the vote must have notified all other Signatories by individually-addressed telegrams or, if that is not possible, any other reasonable means available. If this is not done, any resulting decision on the Signatory Vote is void.

Section 4.

Each Signatory Vote shall last eight standard days real time. When the voting period ends, the votes cast shall be tallied. Members not voting within that period of time shall not be counted in the Signatory Vote.

Section 5.

The tally of each Signatory Vote shall be kept in a public forum, in which each Signatory shall explicitly and publicly state their vote for the record. Proposals approved by a majority in a Signatory Vote shall be Decisions.

Section 6.

All Signatories must abide by Decisions regardless of their individual circumstance or opinion. All Signatories that do not abide by Decisions are Security Risks.

Signatories

• The Humankind Abh
• Xanthal